INDIANAPOLIS, USA, July 5, 2001: Mosques in America are generally places with a growing community of believers that have a vital spiritual life and offer social services to the faithful, says Ihsan Bagby, the leader of the first comprehensive survey of Islam in the United States. Bagby of Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., led a project in which the leaders of 416 of America's roughly 1,200 mosques were interviewed last year. Today, an estimated 6 million to 7 million Americans consider themselves orthodox Muslims. Bagby, said 77 percent of the imams and other mosque leaders reported increases in the number of regular participants over the previous five years, with 61 percent of mosques seeing 10 percent growth or more. "We are probably experiencing the greatest growth rates of any faith group in America," said Bagby, a former United Methodist who converted to Islam 32 years ago.

The comments are owned by the author. We aren't responsible for their content.